138 



MINER S AMERICAN 



Here we have hives recommended more than one- 

 quarter less in size than those that I recommend. 



I have had several of Dr. Bevan's hives, or such as 

 appear in his work, engraved, and I shall lay them be- 

 fore the reader ; not that I appRp^e of them at all, but 

 being the nearest approximation to hives in use in the 

 United States, and, perhaps, identical with many in use 

 in this country, I think it expedient to comment on their 

 qualities, in order to cover the whole area of my subject, 

 or so much of it as is practicable. 



BEVAN S CROSS-BAR HIVE. 



The above engraving represents what is termed a 

 cross-bar hive. The object of this kind of hive is to 

 guide the bees in their comb-building ; that combs may 

 be more regularly constructed, thus affording more 

 brood-combs than are generally built, when the bees are 

 left to themselves, and less irregularities in their archi- 

 tecture. It is intended, that the bees shall construct 

 their combs on the bars. The centre bars are placed 

 suitably for brood-comb, and the outside bars are wider 

 apart, and adapted to store-combs. This is all very 

 well, provided the bees will follow these bars ; but they 

 will not. They must have one or two guide-combs 



